Combination shoe tree and shoeshine bracket



V. CLAIR COMBINATION SHOE TREE AND SHOE-SHINE BRACKET Dec. 28, 1948.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 4, 1946 JNVENTOR.

BY 3 W flTTUP/VfVS Dec. 28, 1948. v. CLAIR COMBINATION SHOE TREE AND SHOE-SHINE BRACKET Filed May 4, 1946 v I 2 Sheets-$heet 2 IN V EN TOR.

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Patented Dec. 28, 1948 BRACKET COMBINATION SHOE TREE AN'D SHOESHINE Yerne Clair, Rye, N. Y. Application May 4, 1946, Serial No. 667,240

This invention is a combination shoe tree and shoe-shine bracket, the shoe tree being adapted for use in the conventional fashion to keep the shoe, with which it is used, free from wrinkles and in its proper shape, and the bracket permitting the shoe tree to be attached to a support to provide the shoe-shine bracket. The combination is an improvement over the art in that it provides a sufiiciently convenient and sturdy arrangement to persuade people to actually shine their own shoes.

A specific example of the invention is illustrated bythe accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a top view of the invention in use as a shoe-shine bracket;

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective of a detail;

Fig. 4 is a top view of the shoe tree;

Fig. 5 is a side view of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section taken from the line 6-45 in Fig. 4; and

Fig. '7 is a cross-section taken from the line 1-1 in Fig. 5.

More specifically, these drawings illustrate the invention as including a shoe tree havin a front main portion 1 and a heel portion 2 with these portions interconnected by an assembly comprising a fiat bar 3 that is hinged to the front portion l and a socket bar 4, rigidly fixed to the heel portion 2, in which the bar 3 slides. Relative sliding of the bar 3 and the socket bar 4 is adjustably restrained by a screw 5 screwed into the bar 3 and extending up through a slot 8 in the socket bar 4, this screw having a flange 9 that frictionally engages the top of the socket bar 4 when the screw is screwed into the bar 3. This provides a convenient, foolproof adjustment for changing In use, the forward portion 1 is thrust into the shoe and the heel portion 2 then swings downwardly so that the shoe tree snugly fits into the shoe. For convenience in removing the shoe tree, the heel portion 2 is provided with a knob 29 extending above the top of the shoe so that it may be grasped easily for lifting the heel portion out of the shoe first, whereupon removal of the shoe tree is easy.

The front portion l is designed to fill the forward portion of the shoe in the, usual .manner, but it difiers'from the usual shoe tree design in that it has a full instep portion l0 and in that the central portion of this instep portion has a longitudinally-extending socket ll aligned with the center of the bottom of the shoe tree alon a line transversely aligned with the ball portion of the front portion I. This socket may be made 3 Claims. (Cl. 12-128.6)

in various ways, but, since the shoe tree front portion I is made entirely of wood in this specific example, it is here provided by a groove, in the bottom of the instep portion lil, which is closed by a metal plate I2, screwed to this bottom by screws I2a, which extends upwardly in alignment with the socket H in the form'of a tongue 13. Figs. 5 and 6 show these screws i 2a going through the plate I2 into the instep portion [0 on either side of the groove in the bottom of this instep portion, these screws being free from the groove as shown in Fig. 6. By providing the shoe tree front portion l with the full instep portion H3,

theentrance to this socket l l is positioned so as to be easily accessible when the shoe tree is inserted in a shoe. This is particularly so in the case of a low shoe, as is illustrated particularly well by Fig. 2, but it is reasonably accessible even in the case of a high shoe. Other materials may, of course, be substitutedfor wood.

The shoe-shine bracket is in the form of a straight, fiat metal bar M, the socket l2 being shaped for fitting by the lower end of this bar [4 and this lower end being provided with a screw l5 that is threaded through it for engagement with the tongue l3, the latter preferably having a'depression for receiving the screw end. By screwing down on the screw, which is readily accessible from above the bar and beyond the end of the instep portion Ill, the shoe tree becomes firmly fixed to the lower end of the bar l4, un-

screwing of the screw efieoting its release when desired. Both this screw 15 and the screw 5 are preferably provided with knurled heads 16 and ll, respectively, for facilitating their screwing and unscrewing. Other quick-releasable fastenadaptedto be received by a fixture l9 that can ings may be substituted for these screw arrangements.

The upper end of the straight, flatbar M is bent downwardl'y to provide a depending end Ill be screwed permanently to a wall or other support. This fixture. l9 has a groove 20 in its back for receiving the end l8, the latter being merely dropped into this groove when it is desired to attach thebar M to the support. Other fastening means-may be used but this-general type is preferred. The angularity of the end l8 respecting-the bar l4 should be such as to hold the shoe substantially horizontal, and, if other fastening means are used, they should be designed to do I the same thing.

By arranging the flat bar [4 transversely flatly, it is transversely wider than it is thick, but it should be thick enough to prevent undue motion 3 of the shoe tree when it is stressed by the polishing operations. However, the bar should not be so thick as to rigidly resist all of the Vertical shoe-polishing stresses, the idea being that it should have suflicient elasticity to permit slight vertical movement of the shoe tree and thus absorb some of the vertical shoe-shining stresses, whereby these stresses are transmitted to the fixture 19 in a form free from sudden shocks. This permits a relatively small attachment, of the general type illustrated, to function efiectively to position the shoe, through the medium of the parts mentioned, during the shoe-shining opera-, tions. If the bar M were made sufiiciently massive to be rigid, or if it were designed so as to vertically depend from a rigid arm, a much more massive attachment would have to be used to fasten the bracket to the wall or other support. This is because such rigid arrangements transmit all of the sudden shocks directly to the bracket, whereas in the case of the present invention the angularity of the bar [4 and its very slight but appreciably elastic vertical flexibility serves to relieve the attachment from such sudden shocks.

Furthermore, the angularity of the socket i I is such that when the bar l4 extends from the instep portion I to a fixture designed to fasten the upper .end of the bar to a vertical wall or other support, with the shoe tree in a horizontal. plane, the bar naturally assumes an angle best suited to remove torque from the fixture while still spacing the shoe tree far enough from a vertical wall to permit polishing of its back portion. Preferably, the angularity is such that the angle bei tween the bottom of the bar 14 and a vertical line depending from the fixture I9 is about 90. This angularity has'been found best for accomplishing the purposes mentioned.

As shown by Figs. 1 and 2, the extended instep portion l0 works together with the above-discussed angularity to make it very convenient for the user to thrust the bar I4 into the socket II and lock it in position by the use of the screw l5. Then, by dropping the depending end IB into the fixture l9, permanently fixed to a wall, he is ready to start shining his shoe. As he shines the shoe, the vertical force applied. to the shoe, usually as shock in the case of a vigorous shoe shining, is elastically absorbed by the bar 14 so as to prevent its transmission to the fixture I8 excepting as comparatively smoothly-applied force. Since the bar 14 is transversely wider than it is thick, it has comparatively no flexibility transversely, this rigidly positioning the shoe transversely. Since transverse force is transmitted to the fixture 19 in a direction that the latter is best able to withstand, the direct transmission of shock, due to the width of the bar, is not of great importance; that is to say, the fixture I9 is more apt to pull out of the Wall than it is to turn and, in any event, most of the shoeshining shock is in a vertical plane. The angularity Of the bar 14, respecting the fixture 1 [9, further contributes to relieving the fixture from undue stress. It is to be understood that the reason it is desired to reduce thestress on the fixture I9 is because this fixture must be mounted permanently to the wall and should, therefore, be

small in size, so as to be inconspicuous, and mounted by comparatively small screws or the like so as to permit its easy attachment to the wall by the user.

I claim:

1. A shoe tree having a substantially full instep portion with its central portion having a longitudinally-extending socket substantially aligned with the center of the bottom of said shoe tree along a line transversely aligned with the ball portion thereof, a straight bar having a lower end fitting slidingly in said socket and an upper end provided with releasable means for mounting it to a support with said shoe tree substantially horizontal, and releasable means for retaining said bars lower end in said socket.

2. A shoetree having a substantially full instep portion with its central portion having a longitudinally-extending socket substantially aligned with the center of the bottom of said shoe tree along a line transversely aligned with the ball portion thereof, a straight bar having a lower end fitting slidingly in said socket and an upper end provided with releasable means for mounting it to a support with said shoe tree substantially horizontal, and releasable means for retaining said bars lower end in said socket, said bar being transversely wider than it is thick to resist transverse flexing while permitting at least limited vertical flexing when vertical force is applied to said shoe tree.

3 A shoe tree having a substantially full instepportion with its central portion having a longitudinally-extending socket substantially aligned with the center of the bottom of said shoe tree along a line transversely aligned with the ball portion thereof, a straight bar'having a lower end fitting slidingly in said socket and an upper end provided with releasable means for mounting it to a support with said shoe tree substantially horizontal, and releasable means for retaining said bars' lower end in said socket, the last-named means including a releasing element accessible from above said bar and beyond the end of said instep portion.

' VERNE' CLAIR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 573,498 Welch Dec. 22, 1896 641,928 Bowie 1 Jan. 23, 1900 728,553 Baker. May 19, 1903 869,498 Latta Oct. 29, 1907 915,516 Walsh Mar. 16, 1909 995,793 Kroll June 20, 1911 1,149,370 Kilrain Aug. 10, 1915 1,705,198 Moland Mar. 12, 1929 2,270,937 Doering et al. Jan. 27, 1942 2,383,678 Persinger Aug. 28, 1945 2,399,128 Magee Apr/23, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date France June 19, 1933 

